You've probably noticed that packaged oranges and tangerines are sold in red or orange nets. A similar net is also used for other vegetables and fruits, but its color may be different. For example, cabbage is most often packaged in green nets, potatoes and beets in purple nets, and lemons in yellow nets. Of course, there are exceptions, but knowledgeable sellers and especially supermarkets always pay a lot of attention to the color of the packaging, as it affects the saleability of the product.
Oranges are packed in a red or orange mesh. Photo source: bigpicture.ru
Why use mesh for packaging vegetables and fruits
The use of mesh for packaging itself does not raise questions, since it is a truly practical type of packaging. First of all, the mesh is cheap, so it has almost no effect on the cost price. At the same time, it is light, durable and roomy, and also to some extent protects fruits and vegetables from mechanical damage.
Nets are a cheap and practical type of packaging for fruits and vegetables. Photo source: agrovsesvit.com
In addition, the net extends the shelf life of vegetables and fruits, as it allows them to “breathe”. That is, it prevents the accumulation of condensation and moisture. Accordingly, products stored in nets are less susceptible to rotting. And the net allows the buyer to see what is inside, and this is its main secret.
Why the color of the net matters
Perhaps you have encountered a situation when vegetables or fruits looked unusually beautiful in a net in a supermarket. Their impeccable appearance made you want to make a purchase. However, when you brought the products home and took them out of the net, you probably discovered that there was nothing unusual about them – they looked exactly the same as the fruits and vegetables that were sold nearby by weight in boxes or cartons.
The secret lies in an optical illusion called the “confetti illusion.” Its meaning is that the perception of color strongly depends on the surrounding “context.” For example, if you take a white or gray ball and place it in a grid with multi-colored lines, it will seem that its color is mixed with the color of the lines that are in the foreground. Simply put, the color of the grid affects the perception of what is inside it.
The photo clearly shows how the grid affects the perception of color. Photo source: iflscience.com
Red or orange plastic mesh creates the impression that the orange peel has a rich orange color. The fruit seems more ripe and juicy. If the fruit is unripe, the colored mesh will hide its greenish tint. Therefore, the buyer may not even notice that he is actually buying an unripe fruit.
The situation is similar with any other vegetables and fruits. For example, as mentioned above, lemons are usually placed in yellow mesh, which also makes them brighter. If they were packed in orange bags, they would look orange, that is, unnatural, and therefore less attractive.
This is exactly the situation that the German psychologist Karl R. Gegenfurtner, an employee of the University of Giessen, encountered. He was used to buying fruit at the market from a familiar seller, but one day the oranges seemed too green to him, which is not surprising in Germany in the summer. Later, he went to the supermarket and found a lot of ripe oranges there. As you probably already guessed, they were packed in a red net. At home, the professor discovered that he had been deceived by the “confetti effect” – the net contained the same green oranges as at the market.
The same potatoes in different colored bags take on different shades. Photo source: eskalibur-plus.com
To confirm his findings that the netting “changed” the color of the oranges, Karl R. Gegenfurthner took photographs. He photographed an orange on its own and in a red net from a supermarket, and also put red lines over an orange photographed without packaging. You can see for yourself how much the perception of color changes.
As Karl R. Gegenfurthner himself writes, “color assimilation” turns a “greenish orange” into a “beautiful orange.” There is no doubt that fruit and vegetable sellers have understood this for a long time. That is why products are usually packaged in netting of colors that enhance the color of the products.
Why the Confetti Illusion Occurs
An article published in the journal i-Perception says that the confetti illusion is related to the way the brain processes peripheral vision and color perception. The brain “smooths” the information it provides to make it easier to understand.
Lemons in a yellow grid will always seem brighter. Photo source: dzen.ru
In particular, the visual system is configured to make the picture seem more uniform, with smooth transitions. That is, when the red grid is on top of the orange, the brain combines adjacent colors to simplify the image. True, this is only an assumption for now, but it seems quite logical. After all, everything we see is a picture created by the brain based on signals received from photoreceptors, which you can read more about in the article about the ability of people to see ultraviolet color.
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Considering all of the above, the use of grids of a certain color can be called a deception to some extent. However, it is not known for sure whether this marketing trick really significantly increases sales. But it must be really effective, if even the scientist talked about how disappointed he was when he bought green oranges because of their packaging.